ATLANTA, Jan. 15, 2013 – The High Museum of Art continued to expand its collection in 2012 with the addition of 692 works of art in all seven of the Museum’s curatorial departments. Acquisition highlights include a watercolor by Georgia O’Keeffe, an oil painting by Milton Avery, and Sushi sofa, a sofa made up of concentric, rainbow colored circles by designer Fernando Campana. Several artists who are longtime friends of the High Museum donated works to the collection – they include Alex Katz, KAWS, Kiki Smith, and Kael Alford, a photographer who was commissioned for this year’s iteration of the High’s “Picturing the South” exhibition series. Twenty-one works by Atlanta-based artists, including Ben Roosevelt, Lucinda Bunnen, Freddie Styles, Nathan Sharratt, and Ruth Dusseault were also added to the collection.

“We pride ourselves on the strong relationships we have with living artists, and those relationships are exemplified in the number of donations we received this year from artists we admire,” said David Brenneman, director of collections and exhibitions for the High Museum of Art. “The 2012 acquisitions also exemplify the High’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a diverse collection representative of an array of artistic mediums, periods, and places, as well as its longstanding investment in collecting work by Southern artists.”

Below is a summary of acquisition highlights across each of the Museum’s curatorial departments.

Untitled, a 1999 oil on linen by Alex Katz donated by the Alex Katz Foundation.

Five works from 2000-2011 by Kiki Smith, donated by the artist.

Paper Smile, a 26 color screen-print made in 2012 for the High by the artist KAWS.

Down Time, a 2011 acrylic on canvas by KAWS.

Carriage, a 1990 oil on canvas by Martha Diamond, donated by Alex Katz.

Untitled, a 2011 oil on linen by Spencer Sweeney, donated by Alex Katz.

Decorative Arts and Design – 16 acquisitions, including:

The Nature of the Gun, a bench made in 1990 by Richard Tuttle, donated by the artist.

Dressing Mirror, a 1931 brushed chrome-plated steel and lacquered wood mirror by Paul Frankl, which was purchased with funds from the Decorative Arts Endowment and gifts in memory of Donald Peirce, the High’s curator of decorative arts from 1981 to 2001.

Sushi sofa, a 2012 sofa by Fernando Campana.

Crochet Chair, a 2006 chair by Marcel Wanders.

European Art – 64 acquisitions, including:

Saint Jerome in his Study, a 1514 engraving by Albrecht Dürer.

A group of 59, 18th and 19th-century British watercolors and drawings that were previously in in the collection of the now-defunct Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Fla.

Seated Male Figure and Seated Mother and Child, a late 19th or early 20th century wood figure by a Baule artist from the Ivory Coast.

About the High Museum of Art Founded in 1905 as the Atlanta Art Association, the High Museum of Art is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. With more than 13,000 works of art in its permanent collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American and decorative art; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography, and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the first major museum in North America to have a curatorial department specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art. In November 2005, the High opened three new buildings by architect Renzo Piano that more than doubled the Museum’s size, creating a vibrant “village for the arts” at the Woodruff Arts Center in midtown Atlanta. For more information about the High, visit www.High.org.

About The Woodruff Arts Center The Woodruff Arts Center is ranked among the top four arts centers in the nation. The Woodruff is unique in that it combines four visual and performing arts divisions on one campus as one not-for-profit organization. Opened in 1968, the Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art and Young Audiences. To learn more about the Woodruff Arts Center visit www.woodruffcenter.org.